Home printed news

Summary

Peter Tamm, Chairman of the Board of the Axel Springer Verlag AG, Hamburg, F.R.G., stated quite openly in a recent interview: "I do not dare to forecast how many unsold copies we would have left on our hands if tomorrow all subscription newspapers were obtainable only at kiosks. Many newspapers today sell more by their subscriber service than their content. The service offered by the publishing companies is unbeliev- able. Neither bread nor milk are brought to the door anymore, but newspapers continue to be delivered. This is a unique service provided by the publishing companies". But what will happen if one day this service simply becomes too expensive for the subscriber, or if no more delivery personnel can be found who are willing to do this job so early in the morning and in all weathers. The concern regarding the continued existence of the newspaper in an era of increasingly powerful communications networks, which are also becoming more economical, led the IFRA Board to commission a Study on the topic of "Home Printed News" from the German Research Institute for Printing and Repro- duction Technology (FOGRA) in Munich, where the reproduction physician Dr. Josef Schneider has been conducting innovative research on behalf of the Printing Press Research Association of the Federal German, Printing Press Manufacturers for more than five years. With this Special Report, welmake available to our members the results of this research project in an abbreviated, partially revised and easy-to-read form. Included in the final part of this Special Report is an IFRA Proposal relating to the ESPRIT II programme.